For more than a week, thousands of young people and opposition supporters have gathered in cities across India, including large crowds in New Delhi and Mumbai, in one of the country's most sustained rounds of street protest in recent years.
The demonstrations center on a process known as the Special Intensive Revision, an effort by India's Election Commission to update and clean up the country's voter rolls ahead of future elections. Opposition parties and youth organizers say the revision has removed millions of eligible voters from the rolls, which they argue could disadvantage certain communities in future votes. The Election Commission and the government have said the goal of the revision is to eliminate duplicate and outdated entries and ensure the integrity of the voter list, which covers hundreds of millions of people in the world's largest democracy.
The protests have been organized in part by a youth movement that gained prominence earlier this year, which has previously pressed successfully for the resignation of a government minister. This time, the central demand has been for the resignation of the Election Commission's chief. Crowds have waved national flags and chanted slogans at rallies in New Delhi, where police have detained some demonstrators, including student leaders. Opposition parties have also taken their objections to India's Supreme Court, asking the judiciary to review how the voter list revision was conducted.
India's Election Commission plays a central constitutional role in administering the country's elections, and disputes over voter eligibility have periodically flared in Indian politics before. What has drawn particular attention this time is the scale and duration of the youth-led mobilization, which has continued for well over a week without a clear resolution in sight.
India's Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on challenges to the voter list revision, and organizers have signaled more demonstrations are planned in the coming days.
What is the Special Intensive Revision?
It is a nationwide process run by India's Election Commission to update and verify the accuracy of voter registration rolls.
Who is leading the protests?
A mix of opposition party supporters and a youth movement that gained national attention earlier this year.